SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A 20-year-old man tossed an explosive device into the California courthouse where he was about to be arraigned on a gun charge and the explosion left five people with minor injuries and shut down the court complex and other nearby city buildings, police said. The explosion occurred Wednesday morning in Santa Maria, a city of about 110,000 in California’s central coast region.
The suspect ran away after the explosion and was captured as he tried to get into his vehicle parked nearby. Nathaniel McGuire, a Santa Maria resident, was wearing body armor underneath his jacket, according to Santa Barbara County Undersheriff Craig Bonner, and was booked on attempted murder and explosives charges. Officials are also investigating whether McGuire is tied to a series of recent arsons.
Contact information for McGuire could not be located and it wasn’t known Thursday if he has an attorney. Officials said it appeared the courthouse attack was related to McGuire’s earlier arrest on a gun possession charge and not terrorism or an act of political violence. “We do believe this is a local matter that has been safely resolved and that there are no outstanding community safety concerns,” Bonner said.
McGuire had been arrested last July for illegal gun possession and was to be arraigned Wednesday. When he entered the courthouse and approached the screening station, he tossed a bag that then detonated. Bonner said three of the five victims suffered burns.
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